Stupid Mistletoe!
by Lu82
Summary: Because Jessica doesn't like mind-control, of any type. This fic is inspired by this pront of this (Italian) Xmas song challenge: 'X refuses a kiss under the mistletoe'
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything, save for the crazy ideas in my degenerated mind!_

_Huge thanks to astral_gravy for her amazing betaing 3_

_Hello, I'm back to 'torture' those two once more, but this time I play in my comfort zone… is it a good thing? Is it a bad one? No bloody idea about that, lol  
This is the way I wanted this story and this is the way it came out #sorrynotsorry _

_Important: I've just seen season 1 of JJ (save for only one episode of season 2, guess which one? ;P ) , but I don't want to spoil, so I'll say what I have to say in the notes at the end ;) Here I just can say DO NOT read this if you haven't ever seen the last episode of the first season_

**Stupid Mistletoe!**

"Rise and shine, baby!" Trish's voice chirped, resounding, before the girl depriving her best friend of the comforting warmth of the covers.  
Daylight rushes into the room, now that the roller shutter has been lifted up.

"What the fuc…" the victim of that assault curses.  
She doesn't like to be woken up early morning and especially not like that.

"It'll be Christmas in three days and I bet you haven't bought a single present yet!" the blonde chides.  
At least Jessica is definitely awake now.

"Why should I give a fuck about it? Save for you… I hate people!" Jessica grumbles, trying to regain her sleep.

"I know, but at least for this year, you have to soften a little bit. You could find something nice for Malcolm, I think he helped you more than once, or you could surprise that weirdo Robin … or you could leave Hogarth speechless… even if… what can you buy for someone who is heartless?"  
Jessica cracks a smile.

"And don't forget that, if you claim you care about me so much, I want a super cool gift!" Patricia points out.

"My super cool gift is that I honour you with my friendship and you can have me around any time you want!" Jessica snaps back, dripping sarcasm, but finally Trish manages to get her out of bed.

"Oh, shut up, penny pincher and get in the shower! If you hurry up, we can be at Century 21 by 10 o'clock!" the blond urges her and the brunette obeys.

Everything goes as planned, and around 10 o'clock a satisfied Patricia enters _Cortlandt Street _and leaves the car in the shopping center parking area underground, with a grumbling Jessica following her.

It takes the detective at least half an hour to get accustomed to the confusion and the crowds of people surrounding her, taking a moment to recall how much she actually enjoys shopping, both for herself and for others

She should listen to Trish more often when the speaker says she spends way too much time in that hole she calls her office.  
Besides, since Killgrave was gone, Jessica has had very easy cases, probably too easy, Almost boring.  
She just needed a bit of diversion.

She has fun trying on every sort of outfit, along with Trish; stuff that's one thousand light years away from what she usually wears: she goes from eccentric, to kitsch, to extra luxury, for the most socialite occasions.

Obviously, she doesn't purchase any of these items, and she recalls that her main goal is to find some proper gifts.

Trish glances at her mobile screen: it's 11:25 a.m.. Five minutes to the planned moment.

"Come with me, Jessica, let's find something for Malcolm!" she beckons her along, going in the elevator and selecting the men's department.  
Jessica trusts her best friend and follows her through the corridors, but she grows more and more suspicious as she realises where Patricia is taking her.

Trish stares at her watch: 11:20 a.m. Time is running out.  
She turns at the very last corner and reach her destination.  
Jessica silently observes, but is still puzzled.  
Malcolm would hardly need any jackets or ties; much less from expensive designer is bugging her, as the wall clock shows 11:29 a.m..

In the 26 seconds it takes for the clock to strike the half hour, all of her questions are answered as a curtain is pulled back from one of the dressing rooms.

His black oxfords echoed on the tile floor as he approached the girls with a practiced nonchalance.  
An instant feels like interminable hours as Jessica recalls their last encounter.

She remembers like it was yesterday the last face-off with Killgrave, on the dock, in the middle of June, before summer began.  
She remembers how he managed to extend his mind control over whole crowds of people, making them fight against each other, violently.  
She remembers how even Trish had fallen under his control, just like it must have happened now.  
She remembers how he has tried to make her come back to him, in any way.  
She remembers making him believe that, making him drop his guard and then…  
And then she has lacked the hate and the necessary violence to go through with it.  
Jessica had taken pity on him; probably in a short moment she must have seen inside him that scared child. She had seen a victim of atrocious experiments, left to his own devices, without anyone by his side, showing him what's right and what's wrong.  
Jessica just couldn't kill that child.  
But she gave anything but a delicate treatment to the grown up version of him.

A couple of punches on his face, well aimed but not with her full strength, a sprained wrist and some fractured ribs.  
She left him there, on the ground, aching, almost lifeless, but … still alive.  
"You know how easily I could kill you right now, just a quick move and I could snap your neck." she twisted her hands for emphasis. He stared silently, eyes wide and unreadable.  
"Instead, I'm going to give you another chance, but don't you waste it. Get the hell away from here, get out of my face and don't look for me anymore! And you'd better behave; because if I find out you did something evil, and, trust me, I will- you definitely won't like me picking up where I left off right now, shithead!" she growled, turned on her heel and left.

And she hasn't seen or heard from him since that night. not even an inkling of anything connected to him; Killgrave always leaves a calling card.  
Jessica believed for six months that her nightmare was over; instead now here he goes, in front of her, wearing a dark grey suit, with his unmissable purple shirt and a dark tie. Staring at her with a scornful smile, as always.

That's before he sauntered Trish, caressing her head as if she was a good doggy.

"That's my Patsy who did all the homework I gave to her!" he exclaimed, satisfied. "You can go now" he cocks his head at Trish.

Trish looks for the last time at Jessica, with teary eyes, mouthing a plea for forgiveness just before Killgrave sent her on her way.

"Why did you come back? I told you to go away!" Jessica growls, now all alone with him.  
"You never told me for how long You should learn to be more precise, Jessica. Six months already felt like an eternity to me!" he confessed, while he ruminated on the idea of daring to move closer to her.  
For the moment, he stayed put.

"When did you come back?" she asks again, taking a look around in order to better assess the current situation. the men's department is empty, save for them, but other departments nearby are crowded with people. Glancing from the balustrade, she can see the ground floor is likewise crowded with shoppers.  
There are just too many people she could put in serious danger if she tries to play the heroine and he is well aware of that, too.

"Truth is that I've never really gone. I'm very good at hiding my tracks, if I want.."

Jessica stares at him hard, taken aback.

"You told me to behave and this is what I'm doing, whether you believe me or not: it's been six months that I haven't' manipulated anyone."

Jessica just glares at him and cocks he head, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Oh, well… I haven't been manipulating anyone in … an evil way. You can't expect me to stop giving orders at all. That would lead me to clean my house, cook… drive… go to the grocery store!" he scrunches his face in disgust.

"Oh, right, it would be such a trauma, poor snobby, spoiled guy!" sarcasm dripping from her tone before switching to deadly serious. "Have you really done nothing wicked in these last six months?"

"Nothing wicked at all. For real." he affirms and the way he's staring at her, deep into her eyes, with no filters, is so emotional that she finds herself believing his words.

"I could be oh-so wicked now, look around you, there's such potential! And with my amplified powers too, hmm? Think about it. Killgrave sneers, self confident. "Imagine if that Santa Claus holding that kid on his lap strangled him, or if those two women fighting over the last dress left on sale fought to death," he went on, whispering in her ear, with a darker tone, as he pointed her at every potential victim."Or I could have given a gun to every shopgirl and shopboy in the whole building and it would take me just one word for them to start shooting the place up…"

At every dreadful scenario he described to her, Jessica's eyes filled with terror, although she is using all of her resolve to keep cool.

(End part 1)

**Notes:**

_I know I know.. cliffhanger :D _

_did I make you curious? Pleeease, if it doesn't take you much effort/time, let me know ^^'_

_Like i was mentioning above,, there's a huge alternate ending (scene at the dock ...what? Lalllalalalalalalalala I can't hear you!), I don't know what happens in season 2 but I guess you noticed that XD_

_About the question: is it correct Kilgrave or Killgrave? Well, I chose the second because I like how it sounds ^^'_

_You're free to tell me even the worst thing, but pleeease, tell me something, also kudos are loved and welcomed ^^._

_Bye for now_

_p.s. if you like the more serious/explicit miniseries, stay tuned, the sequel of "24 hours' is on its way ;)_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hellooo, I'm back, aww thank you so so so so much Justamultifandom (I hate that when it's anonymous I can't answer to reviews, you're extra kind, hope you'll like the last part, too ^^ ) _

_thanks for putting this story in your favourite one, it means a lot to me 3_

Huge thanks to my amazing beta astral_gravy

(Part II)

"Otherwise, it's true that, if someone, after months of attending Alcoholic Anonymous, finally manage to detox from his addiction, he surely doesn't celebrate getting drunk; don't you think so?" he adds, as he circles her.

Jessica receives those last info with a hint of relief.

"Are you really telling me that there won't be any slaughter?" the detective waits a beat for his reply.

"In the heart of Christmas time? What sort of merciless monster do you think I am?" Killgrave feigned insult, bringing his open hand to his heart with a very theatrical gesture.

He realised he's not sounding very convincing to Jessica yet. "Jess, if for once in your life you want to try to trust me, nope, I'm not here to prompt any massacre. It was all a huge bluff. Even the guns. I'm extremely good at bluffing, you should see me when I play poker!" the charmer chuckled at the memory.

"So why are you here? Why am I here? What do you want?" Jessica asks him, narrowing her eyes.

He's close to her once more, caressing the edge of the white T-shirt she's wearing, matched to her unmissable dark jeans.  
Nothing else. At the beginning of winter. Okay, they are in a huge shopping center provided with an efficient heating system… plus, Jessica hardly suffers the cold, maybe thanks to her warm heart.  
This is one of the countless things Kevin loves about her.

"I think I deserve a reward. After all, I'm behaving…" he murmurs, before drawing something out of his jacket.  
Jessica immediately dreads that he has a weapon and gets ready to fight; but then she notices it's something much more innocuous.  
Paradoxically, it's something even more dangerous for her.

Kevin is holding a sprig of mistletoe above their heads.

"A kiss. Just one. After all, it's tradition. C'mon..." he smiles at her, mellow, ready to bend over her, but she backs off.

"Kevin, nope. It won't happen." she explains with cold quietness, making him lower the mistletoe, without even using much strength.

However, the effects on him are devastating.

Kevin's smile dies on his face and a veil of disenchanted sadness covers his big, dark eyes.  
He glances at her one last time, without saying anything and then he walks away, without an annoyed payback, a protest, a threat to put in action, a massacre to accomplish.

Jessica remains cautious and vigilant until he disappeared from view and even some minutes after that, but nothing happens.

Deciding that it's all-clear, the super-heroine goes back to the parking area, where she finds a tearful Patricia.  
As soon as the blond notices her, she rushes into the brunette, hugging her tightly.

"Oh, my god! Jessica, are you fine? Did you manage to escape? What did that monster do to you? And I'm the one that handed you over him!" she cries, hyper worried.

Jessica hugs Trish back, waiting for her to calm down.

"He did nothing to me. For real. That's the point. He did nothing. To anyone. I didn't escape, he simply walked away." the detective soothed her, although she herself was rather astonished.

"So, what did he ask me to do? Because, this time it's even worse, that bastard made me forget everything!" the blonde became panic-stricken once more. "I just recall that yesterday, after my show he was there, standing outside the radio booth, waiting just for me… and after that my mind goes blank." she chewed her lip nervously.

"As far as I know, he must have asked you to bring me here, this morning, in a specific spot of this shopping center. Nothing else." replied jessica.

It's all it takes to Patricia to recover, as she goes inside the car, much more relieved.

As they headed home, one topic in particular dominated the conversation.

"Geez, Jess, do you have the slightest idea about what he could have asked me to do? I have free access to your house, to your stuff… to you. He could have forced me to do anything and all he asked for was for me to take you to the menswear department at a specific time... that's it.. Nothing else more." the blond mumbles, without losing sight of the road.

"He told me he never actually left, he told me he didn't hurt anyone… and I believe him; he looked at me in a way he'd never looked at me before… all I could see was sincerity." Jessica grumbles, waiting a few beats of silence before confessing to Trish.  
"He wanted just a kiss under the mistletoe, you know?"

Trish almost swerves off the road, but she quickly regained control of the steering wheel.

"Are you nuts? Telling me this stuff while I'm driving? So, what did you do? I bet you kissed him, that's why he walked away, all happy and satisfied, without getting anybody hurt." she shoots a glance at Jessica.

"Fuck not, Trish, it's the opposite! I refused to kiss him… and I broke his heart. I don't know how to explain it, but… for once I didn't' see the usual spoiled child, whining because he can't have a new toy… I saw a hurt man… a hurt man who hadn't hurt ." the brunette confessed.

"Are you changing your mind, maybe? After all, we all are better at Christmas, perhaps he's better, too. If it's true what you said, he has six months of good behaviour, a sort of record for him."

"Should good behavior be rewarded somehow? Oh, fuck it, I guess I'll let him have one kiss after all…" the detective frets with her black hair, lost in thought.

"Something like you're going to text him to go back to the shopping centre? Do I have to bring you back there?" Trish offers.  
After all, it's located halfway.

"Nope, not now. I'm going to text him, but this evening. I'd say it's fair if he suffers a little bit. Okay, maybe we're better at Christmas, but not that much better!" Jessica snickers with subtle perfidy.  
"Just tell me, Trish, what's all this sudden rooting for Killgrave? Is it a remnant of his last command?" he stares at her, concerned.

"No Killgrave juju, I'm speaking, being of sound mind and body. I don't know, Jess… the Killgrave of six month ago… brr, so damn creepy, I would have killed him with my bare hands, if I had a chance; but the Killgrave of this morning… the harmless things he did to me, the nothing he did to you, the everything he avoided to do to anyone else. It almost seems that he…"

"That he changed, right?" Jessica anticipates her and the two almost sisters exchange and understanding look.

-

The sun had already set some time ago and Kevin sits in front of the fireplace in his new house. He's been there for six months, but the address is hidden to everyone, excepting his loyal servants.  
Truthfully, he's not harming them at all, not even when his dark moods threaten his resolve, days like today.  
Rejected in such petty way by his beloved Jessica.

And yet, that night at the dock, she spared his life. Kevin was sure it meant something, that Jessica felt perhaps not a real sentiment, but at least a slight amount of interest… instead…

Another destroyed fragment of his heart. He's going to run out of them, sooner or later.

He prefers to vent to his rage smashing against the fireplace the glass with the remaining bourbon he poured in, which bursts into flame with a dull thud.

For a single moment, he muses over the prospect of going out and wreaking havoc for real, so he can draw Jessica's ire upon himself and lead her to finally kill him.

Because to him, her cold indifference is the worst of the punishments.

His destructive and self-destructive thoughts are stopped by the arrival of a text message.  
Although he dreads it could be a Christmas chain text message, he glances at the display and almost jolts.  
It's from Jessica.

'Meet me tonight at 11:30 p. the very first place where we met. If it's true that I'm your obsession, you should easily recall where!'  
The wink emoticon at the end of the message brings a sly smile to his lips.  
Okay, she has just written to reach her, she didn't explain why or what for, but somehow Kevin already feels a bit more optimistic.

-

Jessica is the first to reach the spot where she first met Malcolm, rescuing him from some goons beating him up.  
In front of a big gate, near to what looks like a construction site.  
That fight that magnetized all Killgrave's attentions to her.

The beginning of everything.

The perfect spot for an alternative ending of that morning.

Proving Jessica's hunch, Kevin reaches that place even too easily.

He arrives alone, without any guards.  
No matter what happens.

"Well, my darling, here I am; now you should bother to tell me why you've called me here." he walks closer to her, until they're both lit by a streetlamp, under those same scaffolds that have been mildering for over a year now.

They're both dressed like that morning, the only difference is that Killgrave also wears a long coat over the suit, Jessica a black, quilted jacket.

Winter nights in New York are never clement.

Jessica prepares to face him, with a very relaxed attitude.

"The thing you did this morning…what the hell was that?" she snapped, her hands on her hips.  
"I didn't use any mind control, you know it doesn't work with you anymore. It was only mistletoe!" he replied defensively, trying to figure out what he did so wrong.

"That's the point, it's even worse. Don't you know that Christmas is the biggest mass mind control ever? All this need to buy presents and be on their best behaviour … in this time I just feel like punching double the people!"

This elicits a laugh from Killgrave.

"Besides, this fucking stupid mistletoe tradition! Oh, c'mon, Kevin…" she says, getting closer to him. "Haven't you figured out yet that I hate imposed things?"

Kevin stares at her with a look full of hope, but still incredulous.

"So… are you really telling me that…" he stammers, touched despite himself.

"It's me who decides whom to kiss and when. And now there's no stupid mistletoe!" Jessica sneers, before pulling him close for a kiss.

It's a long, but tender kiss.  
It's almost a mutual desire to taste each other.  
One of Jessica's hands caresses Kevin's face, while the fingers or her other hand comb his hair.  
Kevin just confines himself to holding Jessica by her hips, tightly, almost as he dreads it's only a dream and she could vanish at any moment.  
The kiss goes on, sweet and patient, and neither of them chooses to escalate it.

It's the most beautiful kiss he's ever received, infinitely better than the ones he commanded from her.  
After an indefinite time, Jessica parts from him.

"Merry Christmas, Kevin." she murmurs, cracking a smile.  
"Merry Christmas, Jessica." Killgrave smiles sweetly at her.

As she turns to leave, Kevin stops her, words heavy on his tongue.

"Jessica?"  
"Yes?" she turns to him.

"Since you don't like traditions at all, any chance of un-celebrating Christmas together?" he hazards, stealing a smile from her.

She's close to him once more.

"Well, just keep behaving and … who knows? Text me your new address, but… be careful what you wish for!" she whispers in his ear, before disappearing with a big jump, leaving him with a patched heart.

Some fragments have been repaired.

Jessica heads towards home, pleased because deep inside she's aware she did a good thing, but she's even more thrilled at the thought of doing something not so good, but ooooh so appealing: to give Kevin a very unforgettable Christmas.

-  
THE END 

_Yep, I'm already working at the sequel (and there's also the sequel of the sequel… I just have to stop thinking of trilogies, lol)  
It depends by the way you welcome this one.. in the worst case ever I'll write it anyway, but I won't post it anywhere , lol_

_Like i was mentioning before, there's a huge alternate ending (scene at the dock ...what? Lalllalalalalalalalala I can't hear you!), I don't know what happens in season 2 but I guess you noticed that XD_

_Finally I managed to put those two in something that has not a mature/explicite rating lol_

_About the question: is it correct Kilgrave or Killgrave? Well, I chose the second because I like how it sounds ^^'_

_You're free to tell me even the worst thing, but pleeease, tell me something._

_bye, have a great 2020!_


End file.
